How Far Can Bosses Take At-Will Laws When Firing?

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NBC Miami recently picked up the story of a Deerfield Beach law firm that laid off 14 employees for wearing orange shirts to work. I will repeat that: A Deerfield Beach law firm fired 14 of its workers for wearing flamboyantly colored shirts.

The workers say they were wearing the shirts so they would look like a group when they went out for drinks on a Friday happy hour.

But their boss didn't see it that way -- they thought it was part of a protest.

Regardless, there's a link here: Florida, like Illinois, is an at-will state. That means the employer or employee can terminate the relationship at any time. However, 14 people from a lawsuit being let go for such a specious reason? There's likely a lawsuit that'll result out of this. Who knows if it'll fly.

What type of clothing is protected by law? Well, the most logical and obvious answer here would be items of religious clothing. For example, if an employer terminates a Sikh man for wearing a turban, he may have a cause of action for employment discrimination or wrongful termination. Similarly, if a woman is fired for covering her head for religious reasons (which is commonly seen in Chicago among Muslim women or Orthodox Jewish women), then the woman may have a cause of action, too.

It's hard to say whether orange shirts fall under protected clothing. In Illinois, probably not. But as a reminder: At-will means an employer can fire an employee at any time and without cause. That's a cheery thought.

David Wolinsky is a freelance writer and a lifelong Chicagoan. In addition to currently serving as an interviewer-writer for Adult Swim, he's also a columnist for EGM. He was the Chicago city editor for The Onion A.V. Club where he provided in-depth daily coverage of this city's bustling arts/entertainment scene for half a decade. When not playing video games for work he's thinking of dashing out to Chicago Diner, Pizano's, or Yummy Yummy. His first career aspirations were to be a game-show host.